Ground squirrel sociality: life history, communication and cognition

地松鼠的社会性：生活史、交流和认知

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-05612
• 负责人: Hare, James
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=687749
• 关键词: Ground; squirrel; sociality; life; history

Communication among group-living animals coordinates group activities, enhancing survival and reproductive success. My research explores how animals communicate, the cognitive abilities that have evolved as a result of encoding, decoding and processing information, and how social aspects of group living affect survival and reproduction. With the goal of understanding the mechanisms that contribute to the evolution and maintenance of sociality, I study a wide range of animal species, though my current proposal focuses on ground-dwelling squirrels because they are abundant, convenient to work with, and vary from asocial to highly social species. My students and I will perform field studies building on my lab's recent finding that wave-like jump-yip displays of black-tailed prairie dogs test neighbours' awareness to determine if variability in colony member's responses in different directions provides information about where danger exists. We will also explore how the jump and the accompanying yip-call within that display contribute to the information individuals extract from neighbours. Similar field experiments on Richardson's ground squirrels (RGS) will determine what information is conveyed by tail flicks accompanying repeated alarm calls, explore how call recipients integrate information from multiple callers to track predator movements, and test whether RGS experience perceptual illusions. We will also investigate why RGS alarm calls vary so extensively in pitch and timing, and determine the function of ultrasonic alarm calls. Ongoing research will document the physiological mechanisms that promote cooperation and alarm calling, and those that translate social and predator-induced stress into changes in the number and sex of offspring produced. Fieldwork on Franklin's ground squirrels, will explore how relatedness affects mate choice, patterns of nest dispersion and space use, including newly discovered long-range nest relocations and adoptions of young, thus testing whether kin recognition promotes nepotism or inbreeding avoidance.*** ***Overall my research provides important insights into how sociality evolved, how communication and cognitive abilities contribute to societal cooperation, and how societal pressures promote physiological changes that lead to variation in survival and reproduction. The proposed research contributes to our fundamental knowledge of how animal societies function, and to a more balanced approach to pest control and conservation.**

群居动物之间的交流协调群体活动，提高生存和繁殖的成功。我的研究探索了动物如何交流，由于编码，解码和处理信息而进化的认知能力，以及群体生活的社会方面如何影响生存和繁殖。为了理解有助于社会性进化和维持的机制，我研究了广泛的动物物种，尽管我目前的建议集中在地面居住的松鼠，因为它们数量丰富，便于工作，并且从非社会性到高度社会性的物种。我的学生和我将进行实地研究，建立在我的实验室最近的发现基础上，黑尾土拨鼠的波浪状跳跃-yip显示测试邻居的意识，以确定殖民地成员在不同方向的反应变化是否提供了危险存在的信息。我们还将探讨跳跃和伴随的yip-call在显示有助于个人从邻居提取的信息。对理查森地松鼠（RGS）进行的类似实地实验将确定伴随着重复报警呼叫的尾部甩动所传达的信息，探索呼叫接受者如何整合来自多个呼叫者的信息以跟踪捕食者的运动，并测试RGS是否经历感知错觉。我们还将调查为什么RGS报警电话在音高和时间上变化如此广泛，并确定超声波报警电话的功能。正在进行的研究将记录促进合作和警报呼叫的生理机制，以及将社会和捕食者引起的压力转化为后代数量和性别变化的生理机制。对富兰克林地松鼠的实地考察将探索亲缘关系如何影响配偶选择，巢穴分散和空间利用的模式，包括新发现的长距离巢穴搬迁和对年轻人的收养，从而测试亲属识别是否会促进裙带关系或避免近亲繁殖。 * 总的来说，我的研究提供了重要的见解，社会性如何演变，沟通和认知能力如何促进社会合作，以及社会压力如何促进生理变化，导致生存和繁殖的变化。拟议的研究有助于我们对动物社会如何运作的基本知识，以及更平衡的害虫控制和保护方法。